Five years ago today (August 5th, 2016) I had one of my proudest moments but it was happening at one of the lowest points in my life. Sounds interesting right? Well get ready for this!

Let’s travel back to 2011 while I was working with Criss Angel. I was working away in my office like any day but all morning I was finding it hard to walk. Criss popped up at our corporate facility and asked what was wrong with me as I was having a tough time walking through the halls. I mentioned that my legs felt ‘off’ so he called his personal doctor at Nevada Imaging and had them open the place for me to have an MRI done. On my way home Criss called saying how sorry he was for the news. At this point I didn’t know what he was talking about!

I was diagnosed with having a tumor pushing against my spine so the feeling in my legs was being cut off and my legs were getting weak because of this. A couple of days later Dr Randal Peoples, Criss’ personal doctor, had me under the knife doing an emergency procedure to save my legs. The next time I opened my eyes I noticed Criss sitting next to my bed with his mom. He had waited for me and even handled some of the proper hospital details for me.

I began physical therapy a few days later at home to get back up and walking. This was a struggle and really pushed me in a way I had never been pushed before. The truth was I knew what was done wasn’t even close to being done but I tried to focus on each day. About a month or so later the ‘problem’ came back again but the good news was the Mayo Clinic came back with the news that the tumor was benign. There is no scarier feeling though than getting this news from the Nevada Cancer Center. They wanted to evaluate me but being put on hold during that call, and not knowing this news, was one of the scariest moments I’ve ever dealt with by myself.

As things got worse Dr Peoples had his eye on me and said it was time to be rushed to Phoenix where 1 of 2 doctors in the country would be waiting on me with his team to try a very radical and rare 12 hour procedure. Did I have other options? Sure experimental drugs and things like that but when I was told the problem would probably never come back if I took this on I never flinched and didn’t look back.

So what did they do to me? Well they moved my heart, collapsed my lung, removed a rib and re-built my spine out of titanium. Did I mention I was only the 6th person EVER to be having this done? If you’re going to go big then why not go REALLY big yeah? Next came ICU and some days in a ‘regular’ room before I was discharged by my doctor to get back home in Nevada. Being alone in Phoenix dealing with all this was tough but an angel appeared from nowhere. Beany Bonanno is a personal friend of my doctor here in Nevada so he had her stop by to bring me cookies, sit with me and she even brought her guitar to sing to me! I had never met her before but she was there for me..a total stranger.

Back home I started physical therapy at the house twice a day with another angel that appeared in my life named Kathy. Another personal friend of Dr Peoples that wasn’t accepting new clients but took me on out of the goodness of her heart. We started this journey together that had me first learn to sit up in bed, sit in a chair just trying to keep my head up, then standing, standing and walking with a walker, walking with a cane and finally walking on my own again. Some of my ‘favorite’ memories from this include Kathy taking me to the market and using the shopping cart as a walker to rehab me as I shopped. My other favorite memory was taking my 2 year old son for walks with his tricycle around the block as I tried to keep up with my walker. If you need motivation just look at your kids!

The picture above is about 2 months after my rehab started at home. My mom flew out to save me from a situation that was falling apart around me. Criss had asked me to move in with him but I declined as I didn’t want to interrupt his busy life. What I did take him up on though was bringing my mom to his show. We got to the show, I stumbled in on my walker, and sat in the audience. During the middle of the show I experienced one of my proudest moments which strangely was coming at one of the lowest in my life. Criss stopped the show, had the spotlight pointed at me and had me stand with my walker as he told the audience about what I was going through and fighting through. To have my mom there next to me to hear this meant more to me than anything. I’ve fought my whole life to chase my dreams and follow my heart and here she was hearing a Vegas superstar tell these thousands of people about her little boy from Huntersville, NC.

Tears come down now not because of this being a sad moment but because of how proud it made me feel and how far I’ve come in the last 5 years. Several doors have been closed in my life recently which have allowed me to live a much happier and healthier lifestyle. My health is great and I’m walking like you’d never know I was knocked down.

I honestly don’t think it’s an accident that Criss’s last name is Angel. Several more ‘angels’ appeared in my life and continue to do so at the times when I need them the most. Is it a coincidence? I strongly believe that if you try to live your life with respect and dignity then you’ll always find a way and people will be there to help you.

Character is everything friends. Sometimes the people that say the least have the biggest stories. We really NEVER KNOW what people are going through or have gone through so I hope you carry that with you and judge less.

Much love,

Be the good and never give up…

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2 Responses

1. Love you Luke, May God Bless and continue to keep you well. You were my Angel as well when you had no idea that you were an Angel for me. I will be eternally in your debt XOXO Kathy with a K

   Reply

   • I’m humbled beyond words Kathy. Thanks! 🙂

     Reply

Five years ago today (August 5th, 2016) I had one of my proudest moments but it was happening at one of the lowest points in my life. Sounds interesting right? Well get ready for this!

Let’s travel back to 2011 while I was working with Criss Angel. I was working away in my office like any day but all morning I was finding it hard to walk. Criss popped up at our corporate facility and asked what was wrong with me as I was having a tough time walking through the halls. I mentioned that my legs felt ‘off’ so he called his personal doctor at Nevada Imaging and had them open the place for me to have an MRI done. On my way home Criss called saying how sorry he was for the news. At this point I didn’t know what he was talking about!

I was diagnosed with having a tumor pushing against my spine so the feeling in my legs was being cut off and my legs were getting weak because of this. A couple of days later Dr Randal Peoples, Criss’ personal doctor, had me under the knife doing an emergency procedure to save my legs. The next time I opened my eyes I noticed Criss sitting next to my bed with his mom. He had waited for me and even handled some of the proper hospital details for me.

I began physical therapy a few days later at home to get back up and walking. This was a struggle and really pushed me in a way I had never been pushed before. The truth was I knew what was done wasn’t even close to being done but I tried to focus on each day. About a month or so later the ‘problem’ came back again but the good news was the Mayo Clinic came back with the news that the tumor was benign. There is no scarier feeling though than getting this news from the Nevada Cancer Center. They wanted to evaluate me but being put on hold during that call, and not knowing this news, was one of the scariest moments I’ve ever dealt with by myself.

As things got worse Dr Peoples had his eye on me and said it was time to be rushed to Phoenix where 1 of 2 doctors in the country would be waiting on me with his team to try a very radical and rare 12 hour procedure. Did I have other options? Sure experimental drugs and things like that but when I was told the problem would probably never come back if I took this on I never flinched and didn’t look back.

So what did they do to me? Well they moved my heart, collapsed my lung, removed a rib and re-built my spine out of titanium. Did I mention I was only the 6th person EVER to be having this done? If you’re going to go big then why not go REALLY big yeah? Next came ICU and some days in a ‘regular’ room before I was discharged by my doctor to get back home in Nevada. Being alone in Phoenix dealing with all this was tough but an angel appeared from nowhere. Beany Bonanno is a personal friend of my doctor here in Nevada so he had her stop by to bring me cookies, sit with me and she even brought her guitar to sing to me! I had never met her before but she was there for me..a total stranger.

Back home I started physical therapy at the house twice a day with another angel that appeared in my life named Kathy. Another personal friend of Dr Peoples that wasn’t accepting new clients but took me on out of the goodness of her heart. We started this journey together that had me first learn to sit up in bed, sit in a chair just trying to keep my head up, then standing, standing and walking with a walker, walking with a cane and finally walking on my own again. Some of my ‘favorite’ memories from this include Kathy taking me to the market and using the shopping cart as a walker to rehab me as I shopped. My other favorite memory was taking my 2 year old son for walks with his tricycle around the block as I tried to keep up with my walker. If you need motivation just look at your kids!

The picture above is about 2 months after my rehab started at home. My mom flew out to save me from a situation that was falling apart around me. Criss had asked me to move in with him but I declined as I didn’t want to interrupt his busy life. What I did take him up on though was bringing my mom to his show. We got to the show, I stumbled in on my walker, and sat in the audience. During the middle of the show I experienced one of my proudest moments which strangely was coming at one of the lowest in my life. Criss stopped the show, had the spotlight pointed at me and had me stand with my walker as he told the audience about what I was going through and fighting through. To have my mom there next to me to hear this meant more to me than anything. I’ve fought my whole life to chase my dreams and follow my heart and here she was hearing a Vegas superstar tell these thousands of people about her little boy from Huntersville, NC.

Tears come down now not because of this being a sad moment but because of how proud it made me feel and how far I’ve come in the last 5 years. Several doors have been closed in my life recently which have allowed me to live a much happier and healthier lifestyle. My health is great and I’m walking like you’d never know I was knocked down.

I honestly don’t think it’s an accident that Criss’s last name is Angel. Several more ‘angels’ appeared in my life and continue to do so at the times when I need them the most. Is it a coincidence? I strongly believe that if you try to live your life with respect and dignity then you’ll always find a way and people will be there to help you.

Character is everything friends. Sometimes the people that say the least have the biggest stories. We really NEVER KNOW what people are going through or have gone through so I hope you carry that with you and judge less.

Much love,

Be the good and never give up…

Share this post: on Twitter on Facebook on Google+

2 Responses

1. Love you Luke, May God Bless and continue to keep you well. You were my Angel as well when you had no idea that you were an Angel for me. I will be eternally in your debt XOXO Kathy with a K

   Reply

   • I’m humbled beyond words Kathy. Thanks! 🙂

     Reply